Monday, January 24, 2011

Free buses for Liverpool, Campbelltown & Gosford residents

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally today announced free new air conditioned shuttle services that will begin operating next Monday (January 31) in Campbelltown, Liverpool and Gosford.

The bright green shuttle buses are a $1 million investment in easy to use public transport for local families, and will provide services for up to 24,500 people a week.

This is a direct investment by Labor in public transport for western Sydney – in stark contrast to the Liberal Party who on Friday night pledged to slash $7 billion and two western Sydney transport projects – the Western Express and the Parramatta to Epping Rail link.

“These new buses will help families in western Sydney and the Central Coast who are feeling the pressure of the cost of living,” Ms Keneally said.

“Today’s announcement is a solid demonstration of Labor’s commitment to improving public transport for families in western Sydney and the Central Coast.”

The new shuttles will provide free transport links between key commuter destinations – including hospitals, transport hubs and shopping centres.

In total, three new buses will provide 400 extra ‘loop services’ per week. They will operate as often as every 20 minutes per day between around:

• 9:00am and 2:30pm on weekdays, and

• 9:00am and 5:30pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Each bus is air-conditioned and low to the floor – providing easy to use public transport for parents with prams, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The new buses are a significant expansion of the free shuttles already operating in Sydney and Wollongong – which have provided eight million people with free transport since 2008.

The bright green shuttle buses are in line with the NSW Government’s $50.2 billion Metropolitan Transport Plan, announced by the Premier in February 2010.

Under the Metropolitan Transport Plan, the NSW Government will grow the bus fleet by 1000 buses by 2020, providing better transport between people’s homes and workplaces.

Ms Keneally made the announcement today with Minister for Transport, John Robertson, Member for Liverpool, Paul Lynch, and Member for Wollondilly, Phil Costa.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Southeast Queensland public transport fares have been waived as the region begins efforts to recover from this week’s flood disaster.

Premier Anna Bligh has said, ".......making the network free for a week will keep unnecessary cars off the road....." This is recognition that fares are an impediment to making public transport the travel mode of choice. Yet once the free fare days are over (22 Jan) Brisbane public transport users will be slugged with 15% fare increases - these were planned prior to the floods. The article goes on to say that the fare increase will "go towards fixing damaged public transport infrastructure" (damaged by the floods). This is a disingenuous and opportunistic statement. One only has to ask the question of "where was the money going to go if there were no floods"?

Disinformation about the state of climate change science is extraordinarily – if not criminally – irresponsible, because the consensus scientific view is based upon strong evidence that climate change:..."

Monday, January 10, 2011

Socialist Alliance Illawarra: "MEDIA RELEASE - Paola Harvey, socialist candidate for Keira, has called for a massive funding boost to public transport in order to fix the system's chronic problems.

'We need to move away from car dependency and encourage more people to use public transport, but the NSW government is doing the opposite. In 2009-10 there were 2.3 million fewer passenger trips on the NSW rail network compared to 2008-09. Poor management and lack of investment over many years has pushed people out of the system. This is unacceptable for social and environmental reasons', said Harvey."

Possibly as much as half the Australian wheat crop, or about 10m tonnes, has been downgraded to less than milling quality because of rain damage. That has tightened global supplies and sent prices up by about 45% this year, the biggest surge since 2007."

Greens' Safe Climate Bill

Travelling with a light footprint
Australia's cities and suburbs are increasingly being built around cars, not people, and more of our intercity travel and freight is going by road or air instead of rail. In a world where peak oil and climate change are converging, this has to change fast.
We have to redesign our cities for people instead of cars, with urban villages connected by fast, efficient and convenient buses, trams and trains, cycleways and pedestrian paths. We have to give ourselves real alternatives to flying between cities. We have to end the subsidies to fossil fuel based transport. We have to think a few steps into the future, instead of repeating the same old mistakes of the past. ReadMore [pdf]